Creator, director, and writer Joss Whedon is to return to the franchise that made his name in February 2018, as it’s just been announced via AV Club that he’ll be co-writing a new mini-series in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer universe.
“Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Giles” is a new four-issue miniseries from Dark Horse comics, that sees Whedon team up with Erika Alexander on writing duties, with Jon Lam on art and Dan Jackson on colors. As the name suggests, the focus of the story will be the former Watcher-turned-reincarnated teenager Rupert Giles, as he steps outside of his comfort zone and into an inner-city high school on the hunt for mysteriously disappearing teachers.
As Whedon states, “Giles has never really dealt with the public school system as it exists for most kids. He’s never been to the city. Giles has always had the advantage of being a part of the system that educated him.” The series looks to take advantage of Giles’ current in-continuity de-aging to place him in a situation, not unlike Buffy herself was in the first few seasons of the show.
Alexander adds that “Giles will meet characters he’s familiar with. Characters loafing around at any high school: shy girls, bullies, crazy principals, mysterious janitors, loony students posing as a teachers’ aides, as well as a few surprises. But the most important character he’ll meet is himself. A version of himself he thought, hoped, he left long ago, will be there to greet him. And that Giles gives our Giles anxiety.”
Artist Lam tells of his excitement for the challenge of the series: “For Giles, I think this is the first time I’ve been working on characters that have diverse body types. It’s a new challenge that I’ve been having a lot of fun with. I think it’s also important to represent people of all sizes and backgrounds, especially in such a great universe.”
“Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Giles” will be in stores on February 28th